Explaining the “why” of ESSA

Explaining the “why” of ESSA

ESSA “attempts to rectify many of the problems with No Child Left Behind (NCLB),” writes Miami University Professor Andy Saultz, including by adding a “non-academic” indicator to accountability systems. Saultz “spent much of the last two years working with, and listening to, educators strategizing about how to best shape Ohio’s plan for ESSA,” and found a “divide between policymakers and practitioners.” The educators he spoke with about ESSA “just wanted to create a system that would not add work to their daily lives.” Policymakers, however, “were trying to expand the accountability system as a way of addressing the critique that NCLB was too focused on standardized test scores.”